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Officials are searching for a 40-year-old man in Banff National Park after he is believed to have gone BASE jumping off of Mount Rundle. On Sept. 2, Banff RCMP received a report that Ralph Greenaway didn’t show up to meet a friend for a hike in Banff. They requested help from Parks Canada’s visitor safety team.

A 22-year-old hiker who got separated from his group on Saturday was discovered dead on Ha Ling Peak near Canmore. Canmore RCMP received a call that a Canmore man hiking on Ha Ling Peak was separated from his group and they were unable to find him. Kananaskis Emergency Services found his body on the east side of the peak, where it appeared he had fallen a great distance.

KOOTENAY NATIONAL PARK — It’s lunchtime as a group of hikers arrive at the Stanley Valley, but the last thing on anyone’s mind is grabbing a bite to eat. Instead, everyone sets down their packs and heads into the rocky field to search for fossils below a towering rock wall. After some searching, people start to return one by one.

This week, hostel manager Jason Wong did something he hadn’t done since the flood ransacked Calgarys’ venerable East Village hostel. He and his staff checked in guests. The last time backpackers were at Hostelling International’s Calgary hostel was early in the morning on June 21.

BANFF NATIONAL PARK — Sarah Elmeligi hikes up the trail to Larch Valley, a spot where thousands flock every fall to see the splendour of the alpine trees as they turn a brilliant golden yellow. The trees are slightly muted after a dusting of fresh snow but, unlike many others, the Canmore resident isn’t there for the scenery.

As I sorted and resorted the photos I shot at the Durrand Glacier in the Selkirk Mountains, I struggled to choose the ones that would make a slim but stellar final cut. Mission impossible. I’d just spent four days hiking among some of the most picturesque high-altitude vistas on the planet.

A large male grizzly bear is showing everyone who’s boss in the mountain parks. Earlier this month, officials closed the Sundance Canyon area in Banff National Park after a group of hikers came upon a bear known as No. 122 feeding on a carcass. They reopened the trail late Tuesday after he moved on.

As John Young and Charles Turner reached Boat Basin Thursday after four days on the Hesquiaht Peninsula trail, they hailed the 50-kilometre hike as the best on B.C.’s west coast. The two buddies, who had hiked and climbed around the world together, celebrated that night with their fellow Alpine Club members and a family of nine, who shared a potluck dinner for their last night in the remote wilderness.

Summer comes only once a year, and your body and soul need some action. So now’s the time to toss the PVR box to the neighbours and get your hiking boots ready for 10 classics. From best views to historic hikes, here’s a sampling of hiking hits in the Canadian Rockies.

“ ... Laughing on the cliff above the very long golden beach, we pointed out to each other, as though the other were blind, the great rock of the Worm’s Head. The sea was out. We crossed over on slipping stones and stood, at last, triumphantly on the windy top. There was monstrous, thick grass there that made us spring-heeled and we laughed and bounced on it, scaring the sheep who ran up and down the battered sides like goats. Even on this calmest day a wind blew on the Worm.” — Dylan Thomas

Searchers are combing the Castle Mountain area after a Calgary father, who was hiking alone in the area, disappeared Saturday. Family told RCMP that Ho-Seok (Michael) Hwang, 44, left home to go hiking and climbing near Castle Mountain on the morning of Aug. 4.

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